55 On a Tour through Egyfl^ 



and rugged mountain?, nor the dread of the ferocious Arabs, 

 'among whom it was impoffible to travel without immineiU 

 rianger. He difpatched fome of tlic natives, who brought 

 iiini fpecimens of the difibrent plants they met with. But 

 being fupported by the civil and military authorities, whom 

 ,the example and wifhes of the commander in chief had in- 

 fpi»:ed with the fame zeal for the promotion of every thing that 

 could contribute to the procrefs of the fciences, he pcnetrate,d 

 ,to every pjace where he had been told or ful"pc6j:.ed that he 

 iliould find fenna. 



It was in the defert in the environs of Bafla-Tine, two 

 Jeagues from Cairo, that he coIle6ted the firll plants of fennf 

 ^elledy : on the left bank of the JNile, oppoiite to Hermantis 

 prFailach, he met with a greater abvuulanccj as well as iu the 

 neighbourhood of Darao. 



The good fenna ard arguel, a kind pf cynancbum, of the 

 beft quality, and in the highelt fiate of pefreftion, grow in 

 great abundance in the valley of Bafabras, or of Nubia, from 

 \vhich it is brought by the caravans to Darao and Sicnne ; 

 ^nd it is thence tranlmiued, at lead it,i the greater part, to 

 Alexandria. In the mountain?, three days journey above 

 ^ieniie, the guebelly, the fenna of the Thebaid, and the ar- 

 gue), are found ; the laR mentioned in prettv large quantity 

 in a valley which runs to the eaft of Sieane turning towards 



feypt- 



Ii> thefe places, whether valleys, hills, or mountains, the 

 good fenna guebelly and the arguel receive no niore culture 

 tl'.dn the btUedy, which is conlidered as wild. The plants 

 grow fpontaneoully in groups. There are two crops, the 

 abundance of which depends on the duration of the rains, 

 iii[hich Uike place periodicaUy every year. 'J'he tiri^, which is 

 the moft plentiful, takes place at tlie end of the rains, which 

 ^jegin at the fummer folflicc and term.inate towards the mid- 

 dle of Septeinber. The fecond takes place about the middle 

 of March. 



The preparation confifts merely in cutting the plants, and 

 expofing them to the fun on the rocks till they are brought 

 to a ftate of pertecl dcficcation. The two kinds are mixed 

 fometimes in Nubia, but the bellcdy is never found in thaJi 

 part of the country. It is only in the entrepots of Sienne 

 and Cairo that it is added. The accounts given of the quan- 

 tities collected and dcpofitcd in the magazines, andofthofe 

 fold, jultify the fear of great and dangerous adulteration ly 

 the addition of foreign plants. For, according to the ac- 

 knowledgment of the palthier, the product of the two creps 

 varies from 700 quintals to iioo or more, a third of whico is 

 6 arguclj 



